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2008 Review

I know this is a bit late considering it’s November 2009 now but I began writing an article titled “2009 Review” which obviously wont be published until the turn of the year. But FTP was only launched October 2009 so decided that I would also share some of our 2008 exploits, I’ve not bored you by writing about the daily online/live grind & been selective with the choice of MTTs I discuss because like any avid player if I was too detail everyone the review would be pages & pages long. All the MTTs discussed are significant in the developing of FTP players (particularly Mark in the early months of the year), or mentioned because they are a little different to standard weekly MTTs for example team MTTs, tag team MTTs etc etc.

January 6th was the Sunday following Mark’s 29th birthday & FTP were all out celebrating around Newcastle having a few drinks & an Indian meal at “The Days Of The Raj” in Gosforth. Afterwards we headed to Paul’s pub the “Killingworth Arms” for an 8:00pm £5+R NLH MTT, this hold’s significant relevance in FTP’s future as it was both Mark & Steven’s 1st game of poker & from that day onwards both were hooked. Neither got ITM but both made the FT, albeit the MTT was only 20+ strong but nonetheless impressive achievement considering they had little to zero understanding/experience of the game. I went onto finish 2nd for approximately £100ish after being beat HU when the BB represented 20% of my stack I got AIPF w/A8o vs. 99 & found no help.

So Tuesday 5th February after several home & pub game’s, we decided Mark was ready for the casino & we headed to Circus for their weekly £10 (+£2) NLH TC. Mark had to rebuy the 1st hand after running AK into K7 on a KKx7x board, D’OH NVM & he recovered to go deep busting out 17th from a 70+ strong field, I went onto split the MTT 4 ways for £300 w/following;

I distinctly remember this was the 1st time I met now close friend James “BrickOnTheRiver” Howard who if memory serve’s finished 5th just before the chop when his 77 fell short vs. my QQ.

The following month March 31st after continuing our weekly visits to the casino & Mark continued to work hard on his game the improvements were there to be seen as he scored his 1st win in the £10 (+£2) NLH TC splitting 3 ways for £350ish w/following;

Jay “Tank” BrooksKeith “king keith” Foster AKA Mr. Manchester

I was also on the FT w/other NPFers;

Jonathan “tubbs” WeightmanSteven “fatfish” Brennan

However we were all short of the split as “tubbs” fell in 10th for £50, I bust out in 7th for £90, & “fatfish” promptly followed in 6th for £110. April 28th & visits to FTs were becoming more & more frequent for Mark & was now IMO established as 1 of the best regular players at Circus casino. Again we both entered the £10 (+£2) NLH TC & successfully navigated the 46 strong field to both split 3 ways for £360 each w/another guy whom I don’t know, also on the FT were;

Ross & Luke along w/Laura Hood & Martin Thompson are/were all Circus regulars who are all very capable players & good friends of ours. May 6th arrived & it was the 1st of Circus's now flagship monthly MTT £50 (+£5) NLH F/O w/£500 added. This MTT now regularly breaks 100+ players but as it was the 1st & it was still learning to crawl if you like so the field was only 65 strong which generated £3750 w/added cash & field included FTPers;

So June & through word of mouth just 1 month later the game had already increased it’s numbers & this time played host to 91 players giving a very generous prize pool of £5050 & FTP again had;

MyselfMark TrettGeorge Trett

In the field. Myself & Mark both bust out early but had equal equity in George who held the CL throughout business end of MTT until eventually splitting 3 ways for £900 each, I understand Mullet returned to the FT along w/Ifrikher Ali busting in 5th £355 & 7th £250 respectively.

September & it was time for my annual trip to Las Vegas this time w/Simon Robinson a guy who although we went to school together I never really spoke to much until I started seeing him around Newcastle casinos & bookies. We flew out on the 4th which also meant a week later we would be returning on 11th (9/11) D’OH, NVM I’m sure we’ll be fine…anyway after I’d missed my connecting flight from Newark-McCarran Las Vegas I was delayed around 3hrs before arriving & finally meeting Si around midnight who had flew out via Philadelphia.

Although we did make a couple of trips to the famous LV Blvd as we were staying at Plaza, Fremont St. we spent majority of the week off the strip & played downtown mainly $1/$2 & the daily MTTs at both Golden Nugget & Binions.

I have a vague memory of the whole trip & lost all MTT records which I had stored in my mobile whilst travelling as I left it at the bar in McCarran airport, D’OH however I know I showed a profit of $2000+ after all flights/accommodation, poker, gambling, nights out, strippers, meals, etc etc & giving the low stakes I was playing it was pretty impressive, I pretty much ran like god all week & TBH don’t think I had a losing session from 7, MBN. Quick shout out to my American boys who I met whilst playing BJ & ended up spending 12hrs w/them partying, drinking, riding around in limousines, & of course the mandatory visit to LV strip club Sapphire;

Michael DillenburgNicholas Michael AllenRyan OlsonAaron Olson

4 top American lads all of whom are my facebook friends & for sure will be reuniting sometime in LV at a date/time that suits us all.

October 11th & it was time for 1st annual NPF Championship which saw 55 players turn up which considering the NPF was only a few months old was pretty impressive. It was a £50 (+£5) NLH F/O w/£550 added seat into “Circus Birmingham Broadway Festival” ME for the winner. I was drawn table 2 w/following NPFers;

I had just lost a 40,000 chip pot a few hands earlier when my AKo got JJ AIPF & came up 2nd best which left me w/8,000 & only 10BB. Then final hand for both me & Sean was when Mullet opened 3xBB from MP & I look down at 99 in SB so go OTT AI & Sean finds QQ in the BB so also goes OTT AI to isolate however Mullet had opened w/AA & called knocking us both out approximately 25/26. Special congratulation’s reserved for Gary “xenocode” Brewer who played superbly for 2 days & was rewarded by beating Mullet HU & collecting the title “NPF Champion 2008”, the prize money, NPF bracelet, the trophy, & a seat in “Circus Birmingham Broadway Festival” £500 (+£50) ME, VWD Gaz.

2 weeks later & between 23rd October - 26th October the GCBPT visited Teesside for the 5th leg of it’s tour & showcased 4 events;

MTT updates can be found posted by teamdobb on the NPF dated 22/10/2008 in section “Live Tournament Updates” titled “Stockton Gala £100 side event”. Mark battled through 80% of the field;

Blinds: 1000/2000/300Chip Ave: 30,000Mark: 14,000Villain: 30,000

Until the final 3 tables & the MTT had become a shove fest & in attempt to keep his head above water Mark moved 7BB’s AIPF from BTN w/QJs & was looked up by 1010 in the BB which held, sigh. I made the FT & got down to the final 4;

Blinds: 10000/20000/2000Chip Ave: 300,000Me: 200,000Villain: 200,000

4 handed & it’s folded to me in the SB so I make it 50,000 to go w/44 & BB after tanking 2BET’s AI for my remaining 150,000, I decided after deliberation to go FTW & make the call knowing I’m at best a 50/50 but the blinds were to volatile to give up after I’d opened for 25% of my stack but was shown 88 & the xx8 flop meant I was dead to perfect perfect which didn’t come & I exited in 4th for £1350. Congratulations to DeHammer & Irishimi who were also on the FT & went on to finish 2nd £2800 & 3rd £1950 respectively.

The £500 (+£50) NLH F/O ME arrived & 212 players took their seats over the 2 starting days w/mixture of tour followers, internet qualiers, & locals the prize pool in total was £111,000 which included the added £5000 courtesy of Gala. NPFers in the field;

MTT updates for this event can be found on AWOP posted by The-Tower dated 25/10/2009 in the “Live Poker Updates” section titled “GALA CBPT………TEESSIDE Live Updates”. I was drawn table 2 seat 5 with 3 established circuit names;

Among other talented players. So during early levels I tried to keep my nose out of trouble but kept picking up premium hands so was forced to get busy, AAx2 & AKx2 in 1st 2 levels & none went to showdown so I would imagine I had quite a loose table image. Shortly after a table broke & NPFer Paul “swampy” Gardener joined our table;

Blinds: 600/1200/100Chip Ave: 26,000Me: 22,000Swampy: 33,000

Paul “swampy” Gardener opens 3xBB from MP & I flat w/99 OTB, flop drops 8JQr & swampy CBETs for about ½ pot, I go into tank & call (huge mistake) hoping to take it away in POS if checked to me however the turn gives me a set when a 9 falls & swampy moves AI 1st to act, so I tank & decided I’ve committed over 30% of my chips & make the call to be shown QQ for top set & I’m dead to case 9 for quads or 10 for a split pot neither comes & it’s an early bath for me. On reflection I was relying on my POS to much when at that stage there was enough play to wait for the cards, sigh NVM GG.

I also had a £100 highest team finish side bet on w/teamdobb for added excitement, he of course had TEAMDOBBS & I was sticking loyal to TEAMTUBBS. The MTT was in a shootout format w/10 tables & 1 team member per a table, top 3 proceed to round 2 which has 3 tables of 10 & qualifying team members distributed evenly across the 3 tables, & the top 3 of each round 2 table then proceed to the 9 handed FT & points are accumulated depending on where each individual finished. Giving the unforgiving structure (5000 starting stack, 25 minute clock) I decided it was appropriate to play very fast throughout & gather chips early which for rounds 1 & 2 paid off I won both tables accumulating maximum points to take into the FT. The FT was as follows;

The FT did have some heated exchanges largely down to the accusation of soft play & majority of people being fuelled w/drink but all in still a very successful event. Overall the MTT was declared a tie w/TEAMTUBBS & JOLLY MILLER splitting the spoils for around £125 per player & I also scooped the £100 side bet w/teamdobb which ensured I saw a profit of £150 after all food & drinks, WP Boys.

14th December & I had qualified for Circus league final by winning Monday nights league which had ran for 3 months from 8th September - 7th December, It was a freeroll STT w/£3500 (+£250 vouchers) prize pool. The STT lined up as follows;

I was unfortunately out in 9th after I had limped OTB w/78h & 5 players see a flop of 278 w/2 diamonds, checked around to me & I bet pot which is called by Russ who had limped UTG & turn is non diamond 4 & after it’s checked to me I bet pot again (mistake) & then Russ 2BETs AI which after tanking I call & he shows up w/56s…sigh I couldn’t put him on that due to the unorthodox line he played it but NVM, WD to all that got ITM & especially Russ who went onto win & collect £1000+ for his troubles.

December 18th & Gala Teesside were hosting there annual £200 (+£20) NLH F/O. It generated 70 players so the prize pool was £7,000 & worth the 50 minute drive south, FTPers Mark & I had made the journey along w/NPFers;

teamdobbthe card guard kidCanOnlyGetBetterjonlundyMullet

I shared the same starting table w/teamdobb & lost around 40% of my stack during level 1 when I ran my QQ into his KK, D’OH. Neither Mark or I managed a deep run in this both busting out reasonably early, I’ve searched NPF archives for hand details & can’t seem to dig anything up but if memory serve’s Mark ran a set into set & I missed FD vs. TPTK.

Monday 22nd December seen Circus present another first on the Newcastle poker scene, in the form of a 'Tag-Team Tournament'. It was a £30 (+£3) per team so £15(+£1.50) per an individual & it was in a F/O format w/option to tag in & out at your leisure. Me & Mark had entered this eagerly awaited MTT along w/44 other enthusiastic teams, if memory serve’s we failed to get anything going & nursed a short stack throughout early stages of the MTT when we got KK AIPF which was called by larfingravy w/AQ & when the final board read Axxxx we were sent to the rail. Congratulations to larfingravy who w/team mate Stall85 when onto split the $$$.

FTP’s final game of 2008 was again our regular Circus £10 (+£2) NLH TC which on 29th December saw 47 runners competing for a share of the £1,260 prize pool, FTP had running;

MyselfMark TrettSteve TrettGeorge Trett

And although Mark bust out midway through the MTT it ended positive as Steven, George, & I all navigated to the FT w/George busting in 5th for £90 & Myself & Steven going on to split 3 ways w/family friend Will Palmer for £260 each also on the FT was friend Joe Peel who went in 6th for £75.

Well that’s 2008 wrapped up, TY for reading if of course you got this far before thinking WTF is this kid going on about. I’m representing “TEAM CUBS” tomorrow in the Grosvenor team game however FTP have split alliances as Mark is running for “TEAM RADGIE” boooooo, CUBS FTW. There’s a number of other NPF teams entered so that should be very competitive but also great crack so I will be back Sunday to review that. Take it easy all